If something about your house annoys you, change it! Change it and don’t wait for years and years like me.
We’ve been slowly, snail’s pace slowly, working on our kid’s bathroom refresh. It may or may not have been started before the pandemic hit. Ok, fine it actually started long before that! Anyway, the good news is, we’re making progress.
Replacing a Dated Glass Shower Door with Curtains Rods
We replaced our glass shower doors with this curved double curtain rod HERE and it’s given us so much more space in our small bathroom. No, I don’t miss having to clean those yucky old shower doors.
First take a look at the Before photos and the story behind them.
Making a Small Space Work for Us
When we first moved into our house the kid’s upstairs bathroom was one space. It lay centered between the four kids’ bedrooms. With three kid’s using the same bathroom I felt they needed a way to close off one area from the other.
We had an incredible contractor come to add a wall and install a pocket door separating the bathroom into two spaces. I also had them put in a window above the door to let light into the small toilet and shower space. The long narrow window serves its purpose well, plus it opens up the tiny area while keeping it private.
Our kid’s bathroom now comprises two areas: a sink and cabinet area as well as an enclosed toilet and shower area.
Doing this has helped with bathroom usage. AKA, stopping arguments and for the little ones, avoiding accidents from happening.
Now with two bathroom spaces if someone has to brush their teeth they can do that while someone else is using the toilet or shower. Any opportunity to reduce kids pounding on doors works for me.
BUT, that annoying shower door remained. We meant to take care of and remove it right away, but never got it checked off our To Do list. No one was bothered by it except for me and I never had to use this shower.
Happy years went by.
Literally Growing Out of Our Space
As the kids grew in height we encountered another problem. The low glass shower doors made getting in and out a hassle. The kids never said anything about it until one day I was like, you’re so tall how do you even get in here?! lol
The doors needed to be removed, but as so many projects we never got around to it.
When our first born graduated top of her class from the “pricey yet well worth it private college”, she moved home to save money. By this time we had five beautiful children which meant five kids using the same bathroom. It was a stretch. God bless my kids, because again, no one ever complained. However, I wanted to make it a nicer place for my angels who ranged in height from 3 feet to 6 feet..
So we did!
Replacing a Dated Shower Glass Door
Late Night Demo
One night I had had enough procrastination. In a short burst of energy ran around the house collecting mallets and told my boys to start ripping that door out. The shower door screws had been out for many years but that glue held it in tight.
Jeremy thought me crazy and yet he helped. Thanks babe.
Friends, I would not be exaggerating if I said it only took 10 minutes of work to remove the shower door. Procrastination is not our friend.
Adding a Double Curtain Rod
After the curtain rod is up all the screws are hidden with this easy snap on chrome cover.
Adding Shower Curtain and Liner to Your Shower
It looks so much better doesn’t it?! The oldest two put up this fantastic curved double shower curtain rod HERE. The curved shape of it allows them much more space when showering than before.
DESIGN TIP: Hang you curtain rod high and close to the ceiling. It gives a more spacious feeling to a very small space. (Our kids are tall so this was a real game-changer for them.)
I found this extra long shower curtain HERE and shower curtain liner HERE. I’m happy with both. The shower curtain is made of a textured fabric and washed up beautifully. Found the perfect curtain rings to pull it all together and went with silver. You can find those HERE.
You won’t find any photos of the glass door coming out because we did it in a flourish and never even thought to document it. I’m so proud of my kids and husband for getting it done.
The screw holes in the shower were filled filled in with spackle and the glue holding the door in place got scraped off using this little tool HERE. Are you familiar with these? I’d never seen one of these before and can imagine it being helpful for several other projects to come.
The green walls covered up clean white paint. We kept it monochromatic white because it’s such a small space.
If you have these terrible old glass doors that are hard to clean and impede getting in and out of your shower, don’t wait to remove them. Loosen the screws, use a mallet and then yank those doors out. Bring the glass to a recycling center if you have one near you.
The before and after of this tiny yet important part of our house tells a story. That story is once was oh so cramped and awkward and now free and easy.
Hope it inspired you to hit a project at your house!
MORE RENOVATION INSPIRATION
- Sanding Our Maple Wood Floors Part 1
- Sanding Our Maple Wood Floors Part 2
- Budget Friendly Fireplace Refresh
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Such a simple update, but a big impact! Kudos to you for getting this one done!
Thank you Jen, it’s a relief! Projects rarely are as bad as we make them out to be. 🙂
What a difference. Sounds like you have an easy going family, kudos to you!
I appreciate it Rachel! They are pretty easygoing, but they also wanted a break from DIYing. 😉
Hey! That was an interesting read. I loved how everyone in the family played a role in getting the change done.
Thank you! And they really did all pitch in somehow. Still working on it and I’m excited to show you more.
Hey Maria! I did the same thing to my bathroom when we lived in Kentucky. The glass door was a nightmare to keep clean and made the shower seem so small. Adding a curtain made it so much easier to clean and made it feel roomier! I hope your family enjoys the change as much as we did! Happy day!
Hi Donna! That’s so cool, you know exactly how big a difference removing a glass shower door can make! It’s such a game-changer, isn’t it?